The Calm before...

Late February

It was vacation planning time for us. We matched calendars to plan the best possible time and then ideated on the destination.

My only requirement was a place where I could just plonk myself in one place and just spend time with family. No hiking, surfing and definitely no cooking and cleaning. The elder one wanted to go to a beach. My husband voted for Cambodia. The younger one didn’t want a long holiday. I wanted to go to Jaipur or Goa. The universe was probably laughing at us.

After much deliberations we realized we could not book any tickets until March end because of various meetings and tuition dates yet to be finalized.  We decided on driving to Coorg.

Last year, by this time I had already blocked 2L in tickets and bookings. Maybe it was the universe nudging us helpfully.

On the last day of February, Jo left for a school trip across Maharashtra.

News started coming in of the virus reaching India.

It was just one or two people to begin with. Then a few of their families. Then the people they visited. Some of them even went across their hometown hugging long-lost friends and family. Some invited their friends and families and neighbours over. The virus spread across the map like an animation in a horror movie.

Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad…Bangalore. Social media provide all the news in graphic detail. The new virus had arrived.

The kids were supposed to reach back on 8^th March, and then have 3 weeks of school before the vacations started. I was ticking off each day with a prayer for them to return to school safely and go back to the normal routine.

They reached a few hours later than expected but everyone was safe and healthy. ‘Normal’ however was going to become our most longed for dream over the next few months.